I sighed, and turned to the half-written page again.
V
Captain Littlepage
IT WAS A long time after this; an hour was very long in that coast
town where nothing stole away the shortest minute. I had lost
myself completely in work, when I heard footsteps outside. There
was a steep footpath between the upper and the lower road, which I
climbed to shorten the way, as the children had taught me, but I
believed that Mrs. Todd would find it inaccessible, unless she had
occasion to seek me in great haste. I wrote on, feeling like a
besieged miser of time, while the footsteps came nearer, and the
sheep-bell tinkled away in haste as if someone had shaken a stick
in its wearer's face. Then I looked, and saw Captain Littlepage
passing the nearest window; the next moment he tapped politely at
the door.
"Come in, sir," I said, rising to meet him; and he entered,
bowing with much courtesy. I stepped down from the desk and
offered him a chair by the window, where he seated himself at once,
being sadly spent by his climb.
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